Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz urged New York City Jewry to vote for former NY governor Andrew Cuomo to become the city’s next mayor, warning against Zohran Mamdani
Kehilath Jeshurun Synagogue Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz urged New York City Jewry on Friday to vote for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to become the city’s next mayor, warning that NYC Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani represented a threat to the community.
“Mamdani represents a genuine threat to our city and way of life. We must make sure he doesn’t get elected,” Steinmetz said in an open letter. “The only way to do that is by voting for Andrew Cuomo.”
Mamdani’s obsessions and associations
The rabbi noted that he had always tried to avoid politics and had never endorsed a candidate before, but Mamdani was “obsessed with Israel,” a focus that had been his since his early political ventures.
Steinmetz said that, given the circumstances, he has been warning about Mamdani’s candidacy even since spring.
Further, the Modern Orthodox rabbi said that Mamdani had advocated for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel, had refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and was reluctant to condemn Hamas.
“Just a week after the October 7 attacks, while rockets still rained down on Israeli civilians, Mamdani accused Israel of genocide – a slander he continues to repeat. He will not condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada,’” wrote Steinmetz.
“This kind of rhetoric fuels the hatred that has led to violent demonstrations and deadly attacks. It is unthinkable that the city with the world’s largest Jewish population could elect someone who refuses to understand this.”
Independent nominee, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (L) greets Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani before participating in a mayoral debate at Rockefeller Center on October 16, 2025 in New York City. (credit: Angelina Katsanis-Pool/Getty Images)
Steinmetz also expressed alarm at Mamdani’s associations, noting that he has appeared alongside radical Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who once said that America “deserved” the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Mamdani had also posed next to a controversial imam last Friday during a photography campaign. Imam Siraj Wahhaj was one of the unindicted coconspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and has a history of extreme statements.
“One shudders to think of the sort of people Mamdani would bring into his administration,” said Steinmetz.
The rabbi said that it was therefore necessary to vote for the independent Cuomo.
Republican candidate and Guardian Angels founder “Curtis Sliwa has absolutely no chance. Every vote for Sliwa is in effect a vote for Mamdani,” said Steinmetz. “A vote for Cuomo is what is best for your city, your neighbors, and your friends. You owe them your loyalty first.”
‘A growing chorus’
Steinmetz joins a growing chorus of NYC rabbis who have called on community members to vote for Cuomo over Mamdani.
In a sermon last Saturday, Park Avenue Synagogue Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove told congregants that Mamdani was “a danger to the Jewish body politic of New York City.”
On Tuesday, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC NY) CEO emeritus Rabbi Michael Miller similarly said that the “fate of the city and its Jewish citizenry” depended on voting for Cuomo.
Over 1,000 rabbinical authorities from across the United States signed a Wednesday Jewish Majority open letter urging the public to vote for “candidates who reject antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric, and who affirm Israel’s right to exist in peace and security.”
One of the signatories, New York Board of Rabbis president and Stephen Wise Free Synagogue senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, on October 16, urged Mamdani to abandon positions that were geared toward delegitimizing and dismantling Zionism and Israel.